I was trying to think of my favorite comfort food....and I kept coming up with Pizza and M&M's. So I thought a little harder and I decided my ultimate comfort food has to be Bread Pudding! I love it....so creamy and bready and rich. And you can put chocolate in it.

Here is a healthy bread pudding recipe that I'm going to try as soon as it's not 90 freakin degrees in Denver.

1.Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 6-cup baking dish with cooking spray. Place the bread and apple or pear in the dish. Set aside.

2.In a large saucepan over low heat, melt the margarine. Stir in the flour. Add the milk, stirring constantly, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture thickens slightly. In a small bowl, stir together the three-fruit spread, orange juice, egg, egg white, sugar, rum extract or rum, and allspice. Add to the milk mixture and stir until well blended. Pour over the reserved bread cubes and apple or pear. Stir just until the bread is coated.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Jeana and Kara are getting pedi's and gang gets a text to meet for a workout....in the rain.

Find their inner warrior. Push through the pain and weakness.

Run the track 9 times to equal a mine, quick kettle bells....repeat two more times.

Mandy is having a hard time and so is Jeana. Jackie tells her to slow down but do not stop. Nikki can't run. Jackie wants Nikki to lose weight more than Nikki does.

Bryan is going great! Joe is having ankle pain is can't run any further.

Now they are running in the rain and mud. Nikki refuses to run in the rain because she thinks she's going to get sick. She quits.

Jackie says Nikki is like a child that needs attention. Why does Jeana look like a truck driver?

Nikki takes her umbrella and tries to jog. Every time Jackie turns her back Jeana mall walks.

YAY! The sun is out again and every one is struggling to finish.

Focus more on eating this week. Jackie will take everyone to the grocery store tomorrow.

Make loving choices for themselves.

Bryan and Nikki go to get couples massages.

(commercial break! The New Balance Toning Shoe commercial cracks me up...with the girl with the ugly shape up shoe.)

Homework Day:

Bryan is doing situps and says he wants to eat. Joe says they have to take pictures of every thing they eat and send it to Jackie.

Jeana says the grocery store is an alien place for her.

Right and Wrong about eating:

No cereal. Snacks should be protein based.

No precut fruit in syrup.

Fresh Fruit for a sweet tooth.

No fig cookies

No rice pasta.

Jeana is complaining about having to eat clean and she decides to go meet her friends for champagne at sunset.

Guess who's going to sneak up on her?

Jackie catches Jeana cheating! And she's pissed!

Jackie tells Jeana she has no excuses...she has a chef and 7 gym memberships. Jeana says she's not happy with her life right now and she doesn't like herself. Jackie tells her she needs to find who she is. Jackie wants to see her inner warrior.

Commercial break...drinking 8 oz of water!

Jeana is worried about the extreme workout! They arrive to find a fire and firemen. Bryan makes jokes about wanting the firemen and it makes them uncomfortable.

Everyone puts on a 20 pound suit and the pants don't fit Stacey. They have to get her a bigger size.

They have to do a ridiculously hard routine that includes running up stairs, ringing a bell, playing with a medicine ball and hitting something with a sledge hammer, and drag a 160 dummy (not Joe). All while wearing the suit. Bryan busts a nut and has to have the firemen work on him.

Shay hurt her knee but I think she just really wants to talk to the firemen. Stacey's down now too.

Nikki is hiding on the back of a truck and applying lip gloss. Jackie gives her a lecture about pulling away from the group all the time. She needs to be a part of the team and committed. Yes....she does need to be committed.

Sprints!! First two to get back get to help the firefighters put out a fire! Mandy and Jeana win!!

Bryan is made that he didn't get to finish that day even though he pulled a muscle. He decides to go workout on his own.

Commercial break...I'm doing squats!

Back at Jeana's...she's trying to meditate. But she can't sit still very long. She needs to be medicated to meditate.

Stacy is out walking and talking about how being heavy is holding her back.

Mandy is weighing her clothing that she's wearing for the weigh in.

Jackie shows up at Nikki's house...walks right in her front door and scares the heck out of her. She informs Nikki that they're going for a little hike. She takes her up a big hill....because it's all about cardio this week! Jackie wants Nikki to cut out the alchol for a week.

Group Therapy and Weigh In

The Dr told Shay to keep her knee levitated. Levitated?

Jackie threw Jeana under the bus and told everyone that she was drinking and eating coconut shrimp.

Joe confronts Jackie about giving all her attention and energy to Nikki. Jackie tells Nikki that she can't keep focusing on her and in any other situation she'd have pulled her from the group.

I was reading blogs today and somehow I found these super cute gals from Tone It UP.com that are fitness trainers and I've spent a good amount of time watching their videos and reading their blog and I've decided these are my moves of the week!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

I have not cooked ONE meal since Wednesday. Thursday night I was happily eating some hummus and veggies because my husband was very late coming home from work and when I told him his choices for what to eat when he arrived...he stopped at Taco Bell on the way.

He brought me a soft taco and a thing of beans.

I felt sick after I ate it because I had eaten already. Why did I eat that? UGH!

Friday night, I had to pick him up from work...driving in downtown traffic and he decided we'd go out.

We went to Burrito King (next to Taco Bell).

I only ate until I was full...which was good but I should have been home eating chicken and salad.

Saturday....we drank beer on the patio, snacking on peanuts and then we were really hungry for chinese.

Dang places here deliver.

I didn't eat very much but....gosh! I haven't eat one good thing all weekend!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

I didn't even want to get out of bed....I just wanted to go back to sleep but I checked my phone and my friend Jen emailed me and said she was going for a run, so I got up.

I decided to check out the park by my house because it has a short path that goes through some woods and it's lit. I thought it could be an alternative for when it's snowy and wet outside since my favorite path is part dirt and I don't do mud.

It's not going to work out. My knees hated the concrete and I just couldn't get going. My pace was so slow and I just couldn't run. I came home after only a mile....

I couldn't figure out what my problem was because I've been eating pretty well (here's a slow carb recipe for you) and drinking some water (not as much as I should be....bad Connie).

Monday, September 20, 2010

Another week of being inspired by THINtervention! You're homework for this week is to come up with a healthier version of your favorite comfort food! And...find your inner athlete!

Stacey is shooting for 11 pounds after only losing 2 pounds last week. Good luck with that....

Joe wants to lose 5 pounds.

Jackie and Craig..think their not getting a mind/body connection. So they are going to be so in their face that they will have to confront it. They are bringing the pain!

Today... Jackie is going to kick their asses. It's time to confront the pain!

Nikki is AWOL. They are working out very hard while waiting for Nikki to show up. The real workout hasn't started until Nikki arrives.

Nikki says she is not well. She hasn't eaten or slept and Jackie wants her to do push ups....on the dirty floor. She claims to have food poisoning.

Nikki is going for lipgloss and Bryan is ragging on Stacy about not working hard.

Jackie wants them to run forward and backward. And learn every machine in the room.

Craig is yelling at Shay. They are supposed to be pushing through pain. Stacy says she's worked out every single day and Jackie says something must be wrong with her diet.

Everyone is complaining and saying that they can't do things and it's making Jackie madder. Now Stacy is crying but Jackie wants to know why. Nikki did a bunch of pull ups!! Who knew she could do it? I guess her Martini curls are really working for her.

Everyone is fighting and Jackie makes them circle around and discuss what's going on. They need to act like a group. Shay has a princess attitude and Shay explains that she's a Diva not a Princess.

HOMEWORK: Pain is difficult and she wants everyone to have a healthy comfort food party and Mandy offers to have it at her house.

(commercial break....a pop tart commercial is on. Seems wrong.)

They all brought some great things and Jeana brought her chef to make her food. Joe made faux cheese burgers that looked pretty great. Joe and Shay are getting into it because Shay doesn't feel comfortable around him. Joe said that they only have so much time with Jackie and she doesn't try as hard and that's not fair.

Stacy feels like people won't look her in the eye and she decides to have a pity party for herself right there at the table. Nikki is smirking about Stacy crying again. Bryan tells her that her faux panic attacks are driving him crazy.

OMG...Stacy thinks that Nikki is fabulous.

(commercial break....i did 15 squats!)

The team is at The Rose Bowl and today they are going to find their inner athletes! NIkki says they are Fatletes not athletes.

Stacy is going to change her attitude and think of the workouts as fun and not pain.

They are running drills and Stacy and Shay are doing great! Craig has to smack Jeana on the ass and call her pretty girl to keep her going. All of a sudden Bryan has turrets.

Last drill....run 100 yards! Shay and Stacy are towards the front of the pack. Shay is remembering her track days. Jackie is very proud of them and rewards them with doing the stairs.

Nikki is struggling but the boys are doing great! It's about surpassing your limits!

It's down to Joe and Shay....and Joe is the winner!

Nikki, Stacy, Joe and Bryan go out for dinner after the workout and Nikki is ordering drinks for everyone. They are all making fun of Stacy because she has a blind date coming up.

(commercial break...I want to do sit ups but my husband is sitting here looking at me.)

Now they are talking shit about Jeana and they say she's a wine bag. Everyone is taking photo's of their food just in case Jackie requests one!

Jackie sends Stacy a text and has her meet her at a secret location. She finds her at a set of stairs where she's going to show her how to get the most from doing the stairs.

Jackie tells her to think about what she's going to look like after she loses weight.

GROUP THERAPY and WEIGH IN

They were asked to bring pictures of themselves as a child. You would never speak to a child like they talk to themselves.

Bryan's little boy says he's gay and he'd like that little boy to know he is loved.

Jeana's little girl....she wants to tell her to make good choices and surround herself with positive people. Jeana is detached. What is she running away from? She's lonely and used to being alone.

Mandy's little girl....she tells her that she's sorry that she made food so important and that's how she showed love.

Stacy's little girl just wants to be loved by her Grandmother and she told her that she was never going to be successful because she was fat. She wants to tell her that love isn't conditional.

Shay's little girl...she's tell her that she has fat thighs. Jackie says she can't help her if she doesn't let her in.

Friday, September 17, 2010

I'm really struggling with mindless snacking and I've got to clear out (in the trash not my mouth) some of the snack foods in the house.

We've also had a lot of activities come up this week that made doing this plan difficult. My husband turned late 40 something, I tried to go to a movie premiere screening with my BIL (i drank a soda), tonight we're going to Octoberfest (beer baby) and then tomorrow we have tickets to a comedy show and we're supposed to go to dinner with one of my best friends that will be in town with her family.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Before I tell you about my new diet plan....I have to tell you about what I did yesterday!

I RAN!!

After watching Jackie Warner on THINtervention...I was motivated to push myself and I also just read that doing intervals is very helpful for fat loss. So....I walked/ran/walked/ran and I was doing 14.33 minute miles!! I felt so great when I got home!

Last week, my friend Jen at Harried Mom of Four told me about a diet that she was getting ready to try. It sounded very interesting and worth trying out. I found more info about it on FitnessMagazine.com and I really thought it could work for me.

Basically....it's a low-glycemic diet, high in good carbs like vegetables, whole grains and legumes. Foods with a GI (glycemic index) lower than 55 raise blood sugar in small amounts and are digested slowly. Eating low GI foods can also lower insulin production and keep you from experiencing low blood sugar. I'm forcing my husband on this plan also because he's a type 2 diabetic and I'm interested to see what this does to his blood sugar levels.

Learn about each other and help each other. They are going to buddy up.

Jeana and Mandy

Shay and Stacey

Bryan and Kim

Joe and Nikki

They are supposed to plan a workout together.

Poor Joe has to work out with Nikki and she he's taking her boxing. They start off with jumping rope and Nikki can't do it. Joe's jealous of all Nikki's cocktails and says she looks like Chris Farley. Afterward they are cleaned up and talking about goals.

Jeana shows up to Mandy's house and meets her family. They are taking martial arts classes....punching and kicking, jumping jacks and sit ups. Jeana is lusting after the instructor. They talk about motivation and Mandy is worried about her health. Jeana wants to wear a bikini.

Kim and Bryan go for a jog together. Afterward they eat and gossip about everyone. They get a message from Jackie and she wants a photo. They send a photo of their food.

Shay and Stacy are laying on yoga mats in the back yard...but fist they jump rope...kind of. Then they decide to lay in the grass and pretend to lift weights and talk about lobster. They are talking about getting something to eat and Jackie is sneaking up on them. They are busted! Jackie leads them in a workout.

They are on the beach and they are going to do a series of exercises with bags of sand strapped to their chest and tethered to each other. The winner gets to go eat and drink at Jackie's house.

Jeana and Mandy finish the first part first and then Bryan and Kim. Stacy and Shay are pulling up the rear. Bryan calls Mandy...Menopause Mandy. LOL! I need to get one of these band things.....

Joe and Nikki are cheating and it's make Bryan mad. Joe is dragging Nikki up the hill. Jackie's ripped stomach is kind of....too much. Seriously, I think it looks icky.

Bryan and Kim WIN! Stacy and Shay are last and Craig has to help them up the hill. Jackie tells them they need a protein shake.

Bryan arrives for his reward dinner. She says he can either have Vodka Soda or Tequila on the rocks. Then she talks to him about sex.

Group Therapy.....

Kim wants to talk to Jackie about her hand injury. She's decided to leave the program and Jackie tells her she can still work out and eat well. They are proud of her.

How are you feeling about losing Kim. They ask Shay how she feels without her mom. Bryan is very sad that she's gone. Talk about people around them have contributed to their weight gain.

Nikki's mother died when she was 11 years old and her Dad was a jerk. Her Dad spend food money on booze and she had to parent herself. She replaced the need to interact with food.

Bryan blames his parents and he was sexually abused when he was 3 and his mom never did anything about it. His father was an alcoholic. Fended for himself a lot growing up. Per Jackie cycle of abuse never stopped because he turned himself.

Weigh In Time!

Bryan lost 7 pounds

Nikki lost 3 pounds

Mandy lost 5 pounds

Shay lost 2 pounds

Jeana lost 1 pound

Stacy lost 2 pounds

Joe gained 1 pound

Jackie says they are also building muscle. Next week should be much better. Also...Jackie says she's going to be a hard core bitch next week.

Notes: I was thinking about walking somewhere else....but the lake is so beautiful. I decided to just take my chances and this time I hiked through the woods first, then the rat crossing....then I'd be home free on the paved path.

At first I decided that going through the woods would encourage me to run. And I did...for about a minute and then I realized if I did encounter a dangerous animal that I would now be too out of breath to run from it. Also...it's much more difficult to avoid animal poopy on the path when you are running.

As I approached the area where I saw the Raccoons...I was doing a continuous scan of the woods, trees and path....and I about died when I saw movement and thought it was a mountain lion but it was just a tabby cat. Now...this cat is chasing me through the woods. Great. And hey...guy who lives on the edge of the woods with the BEAR CROSSING sign on your gate. Very funny.

I made it through without seeing any wild animals! And then on the paved path I decided to job and my iPhone popped out of my pocket and then my headphones fell out and the little rubby things that sit in your ears when flying into the weeds. It took me 5 minutes to find them.

I need to find my iPhone holder thing.

I exercised like crazy today...took my walk and then went with a walk with the kids. I did squats while my coffee was brewing and during Young and the Restless. By 3pm...I was exhausted!

Notes: It was only 45 degrees....which would normally keep me cuddled up in my bed but now I'm all pissed off and want to get to 180 pounds so that my husband is forced to buy me a cabin in Canada.

It was actually kind of nice to walk in the cold air. Only problem was that there was a massive fire in Boulder yesterday and the air was really smokey and it was hard for me to breath. I got my heart rate up a couple times because I had to walk past the RAT CROSSING and then I encountered a Mama Raccoon and her baby and she chased me a little ways. I think I need to find a new place to walk....

I'm getting really frustrated because every day that I step on the scale...it keeps going UP!

Notes: My husband is screwing me up. I told him that I wasn't going to eat fast food for the month of September but now he keeps taking me to restaurants. We ate out three times this weekend!

We went to Hooters, because he wanted wings and then I told him I wanted to be a Hooters Girl for Halloween and he said...Yeah...a 40 year old Hooters Girl. It made me really mad!

Then I asked him if he'd buy me a Hooters outfit if I got down to 180 pounds and he said he'd buy me a cabin in Canada if I did that. As if I couldn't do it so he came up with the most outlandish and stupid thing he could reward me with.

To add insult to injury...I then had to eat dinner with his family. You know...the people that eat enough food for a hundred people. Of course, my plate came to me with a burger AND a brat on it and I can't eat both so I only ate the burger. They served my children each two hot dogs. I took one of their plates because they don't NEED two hot dogs. They are 3 and 4.

After my husband gorged himself...he told his Mother that he can't eat at her house anymore because he stuffs himself. And she said, ' THAT'S WONDERFUL!' I gave her the dirtiest look I could muster and told her that it is NOT wonderful because eating that much food kills people.

Monday, September 6, 2010

I'm really excited about the new Bravo show called Thintervention with Jackie Warner! I decided to take notes while I'm watching in case something important happens that I want to remember.

Jeana, 54 , Unhappy with her weight and her family disapproves of her.

Stacy 23, Comedian....loves food and has PCOS.

Nikki, 39, is a Life Advisor, loves cocktails and smoking.

Bryan, 36, runs a film company...and he's gay. A chubby gay. Hides food all over the house.

Joe, 35, loves cheeseburgers and banging hot girls. Likes to flirt but doesn't have sex because of how he looks.

Shannon, 22, a college student and is unable to resist food.

Kim, 47, used to be an athlete and fitness model.

Mandy, 48, loves to take baths with her husband and is a stay at home mom. Loves food and finishes her kids food. Kids call her a scavenger.

Homework: Clear all sugar from the house. Brain is addicted. Cranky for a few days and then you won't want it anymore.

Anything with over 5g of sugar has to go. And No alcohol for the alkie.

They each get a blackberry so that they can log their food and Jackie can get ahold of them at any time.

Alkie loves her drinks to death.

They get text message from Jackie that they have to walk, run or crawl 2 miles in the morning.

(commercial break...I go to the pantry and my kids cereal both has more than 5g of sugar per serving and my favorite Quaker Chewy Granola Bars have 7g. I'm afraid to look any further.)

Jackie is on Jeana's doorstep....and she's about to find out that she has a chef that is making her food.

2 eggs
Cottage Cheese
Oatmeal
Free Range Chicken

Meals should contain a meat and a veggie.

2 giant things of water with a dash of lemon juice in it to help burn fat and detoxify liver!.

Jackie goes to Mandy's house to check on her and finds that she has baked a bunch of treats. Claims that she's going to give it away. Purpose was to change how she thinks about sugar.

SUGAR=Garbage

Needs to give kids berries or apples to show love instead of treats.

Makes Mandy do sprints and push ups and jumping jacks for her workout. She's about to die after 10 minutes.

Jackie goes to Bryan's house to check on his cupboards and we find out he ate two cookies. He had to kiss the sugar goodbye. She brought him two cookies and shows him it's 140 calories and she's going to make him carry the cookies while he runs up and down the stairs.

Laguna...on the beach for today's workout in surf and sand. Jackie says that Nikki isn't taking this seriously. 50 crunches on the fitness beach ball....but first they have to blow them up. Something tells me Nikki won't be able to blow because of her smoking problem.

Feel the burn! Belly crawl in the sand, Wedgie in the front is a Veggie. Flipping tires across the beach. Nikki's kicking ass! Oops...now Nikki is laying in her tire.

Nikki wants to do something hideously unladylike and smack Jackie. She's tells them they are saving their own lives.

Jeana invites Joe, Bryan and Nikki back to her house to eat food prepared by her chef.

Bryan is jealous of Jeana's house and money. Joe is afraid that Jeana wants to date him and they make fun of Nikki for being a Life Advisor that works for free. Jeana says that Nikki is pretty well fed for being underemployed and she finds her mysterious.

(commercial...I'm going to get a glass of water and think about throwing away all of my soda. Lord Help ME!)

Jackie sneaks into Nikki's house and starts going through her fridge. It's full of alcohol. She tells Nikki that she has to take care of herself.

Group therapy and Weigh In Time!

Dr. Ramini wants to know why they think they are overweight. The reasons range from having cancer to emotional holes in their souls.

(commercial break...thinking about going for a walk in the morning and what I'm going to wear.)

I was so happy when my friend Denise offered to go with me. She's a true Colorado Girl and loves to hike and go on adventures. She also likes donuts and we decided to bring some with us next time as a reward for walking up all of the steps.

Plus it would be fun to eat them while watching the boot camp folks.

My lungs were screaming at me to stop and go home...but I kept going!

I made it to the top! It looks like that guy is falling down the stairs...and that I'm flipping someone off....

This right here is why I will never do a boot camp. I don't know what the heck these people were doing.

When I got back to my car...I was conveniently parked at Target, and I was feeling so good and healthy that I bought fresh Wild Salmon for dinner and couldn't wait to go home and make a turkey and avocado sandwich on the Sandwich Thins that I bought the other day.

I feel so good right now that I think I want to do this every single Sunday. And I learned a new exercise watching a cute little gal. I'm going to do this every day so that I can have a nice butt like she has. The boobs will probably cost me a little cash though.

Some interesting facts about Red Rocks....

there are 23 flights of stairs from the road to the stage.
there are 23 flights of stairs from the stage to the top.
there are 46 flights of stairs in the from the road to the top.
there are 196 stairs from the road to the stage.
there are 192 stairs from the stage to the top.
there are 388 stairs total from lower parking to the top.
there are 21 planter boxes total – 9 to the concession stand,12 to the top.
there are 69 rows of seats.
there are 138 steps from the stage to the top on the stairs ( next to the seats ).
if you do add-ons, from the stage to the top, 23 flights of stairs with 8 stairs per flight you will run 4416 steps.
it is a 5K to run all of the wooden bleachers to the top

I found this list on the boot camp instructor's website. I like the list...except for the fat free stuff. YUCK!